YPARD bloghttp://africa.ypard.net/rss/news/8
enImproving the potatoes and banana value chainshttp://africa.ypard.net/2017-08-10/improving-potatoes-and-banana-value-chains
<p>As one of the outcome of the <a href="https://www.google.it/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiC08bl5czVAhXCMyYKHWthBKEQFggmMAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fyoungafricaworks.org%2F&amp;usg=AFQjCNHsoHWobqZ6uZDxSFYBL6cHlajywg" target="_blank">2017 Young African Works Summit</a>, there was creation of groups of peers from the same country to participate in a long-term cluster coaching sessions together.</p>
<p>The YAW2017 Rwanda cluster led by Pacifique Nshimiyimana the founder of <a href="https://web.facebook.com/realgreengold/" target="_blank">Real Green Gold</a> and Clarisse Murekatete co-founder of <a href="http://www.carlgroup.org/team.html" target="_blank">Carl Group</a> initiated the Farming &amp; Agri-food Systems Connekt. The initiative is established to benefit both youth delegates’ enterprises in their journey post-summit and long-term career development. They designed activities that will help improve the potatoes and banana value chains. The mission to scale faster the growth of their enterprise on the base of quality produce with smart innovation was agreed upon.</p>
<p><img alt="Clarisse, a YAW Rwanda cluster youth interviewing Drocelle, a female farmer from Muhanga District" src="/sites/default/files/files/carl-group-collecting-data-from-orange-fleshed-sweet-potatoes-smallholder-farmer-muganga-district-photo_clarisse.jpg" style="border-width: 2px; border-style: solid; margin: 6px; width: 436px; height: 530px;" /></p>
<p>Carl Group is presently processing orange fleshed sweet potatoes into baked food and donuts while Real Green Gold is adding value to banana produce with long term freshly packing conservation solutions.</p>
<p>As the initiative kicked off, both founding partners started by recruiting smallholder farmers in their respective value chains where ten farmers in banana value chain are now listed in Kirehe district and ten farmers in the potato value chain from Muganga district.</p>
<p>At the beginning field meetings went on from early July to map out both eligible farmers and their needed skills. Smallholder farmers in the value chain of orange fleshed sweet potatoes, face a major challenge of accessing a fair market. Also, another challenge such as climate change that came with droughts has adversely affected their crops with little or no financial means to afford irrigation.</p>
<p>On the other hand farmers in the banana value chain complained about unfair prices which can be traced to bad production. It was also observed that there is a certain level of skills gap stemming from poor access to modern agricultural practices even though an average farmer has more than fifteen years of experience.</p>
<h3>Meet some of our smallholder farmers</h3>
<p><strong>Yankurije Drocelle </strong>is a woman with seven years’ experience in growing orange fleshed sweet potatoes in Shogwe Sector Muhanga District of the Southern Province in Rwanda. She is the leader of her cooperative “DUFATANYE” which is composed of thirty smallholder farmers. She grows them on a three hectares land where a part of the land is hers and the remaining portion rented.</p>
<p>“<em>Growing orange fleshed sweet potatoes has been so rewarding to me</em>” she says, she can be able to secure a health insurance, pay school fees for her children, improve her standard of living and also save. All these coming from the profits she gets from her potato farming business which is her main stream of income.</p>
<p>Nevertheless she still faces challenges that are preventing her from growing enough in quality and quantity. Climate change being a major challenge, “<em>dry seasons now take longer that we have to water our plantation which we fail as irrigation material are expensive</em>” she said.</p>
<p><strong>Munyemana Jenvier</strong>, a young banana farmer in Kirehe district of Eastern province Rwanda. Jenviver grown in a family of banana farmers and now has more than 15 years’ experience growing bananas. Jeanvier wants to increase his banana produce quality and access premium markets to improve his livelihood.</p>
<p>“<em>I have been a member of different famers’ cooperative, but we never stopped experiencing unfair prices where you can even not find someone to buy your products during harvest seasons.</em>” Jeanvier now grows banana on his half hectare land and hopes to buy more land if he could get a good deal and chance to be trained on how to increase production both in quality and quantity.</p>
<p>The next phase of the initiative will be field training of the twenty smallholder farmers early in August 2017.</p>
10 Aug 2017Pacifique Nshimiyimanahttp://africa.ypard.net/2017-08-10/improving-potatoes-and-banana-value-chainsPlague of jellyfish: The economic and biological effecthttp://africa.ypard.net/2017-08-07/plague-jellyfish-economic-and-biological-effect
<p>On July 20th, YPARD-Egypt participated in a workshop on the impact and response to the recent infestation of Jellyfish along Egypt’s North Coast. The workshop was organized by the Arab Federation for Wildlife Protection (AFWP), an Arab League specialized organization, in association with the Institute of Environmental Research at Ain Shams University. The main aim of the workshop was to assess the serious impacts of Jellyfish swarms on the economies and environments of the North Coast of the country and to explore potential strategies to respond and mitigate these impacts. The workshop brought together around a hundred participants representing major shareholders including the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Environment, concerned marine research institutions, representative from the tourism and private sector organizations, and other NGOs.</p>
<p>During his welcome address, Dr. Bahaa Badr, the chairman of AFWP highlighted that the mission of the Federation has since its establishment in 2006, under the umbrella of the Council of Arab Economic Unity of the League of Arab States, been to actively engage with governmental and non-governmental organizations to achieve the sustainable protection and conservation of wildlife species and habitats within the Arab States. Furthermore, he illustrated that “it is not the first time that Jellyfish invades Egypt's north coast, however the attack is relatively more intense than previous attacks”. </p>
<p>Dr. Hisham Al-Qassas, an environmental science researcher at the Institute of Environmental Research and Studies, suggested that increasing global environmental changes, such as climate change, increasing seawater temperatures, and increased eutrophication may have caused such significant increases in jellyfish invasions of coastal zones worldwide, including the Mediterranean countries. According to Al-Qassas, Jellyfish are likely to affect the structure of the food web due to their high consumption rates, fast growth and reproduction rates, and tolerance to these ecosystem changes.</p>
<p>In contrast, Dr. Hala Awadallah, from the Institute of Environmental Research and Studies, showed that despite the negative effects if jellyfish on the economy of the coastal zones, they can provide beneficial ecosystem services such as regulating service through carbon sequestration, providing foods, and producing human medications. To cite some examples, she showed that scientists have successfully extracted a non-addictive painkiller from jellyfish venom similar to one which had been found in the cone snail. Also, researchers have recently isolated a compound from jellyfish venom which can kill bacteria which have high resilience.</p>
<p>Following these presentations, the participants engaged in an open discussion which centered on the economics and environmental impacts of Jellyfish and the potential strategies to minimize these impacts and maximize the benefits that can be gained from Jellyfish. A participant from a marine science research institution highlighted that jellyfish have for long been considered an unimportant factor in the coastal economies, however they now are playing increasingly significant roles in coastal ecosystems and processes.</p>
<p>Another participant pointed out that supporting and protecting the species that feed on jellyfish, such as sea turtles could be an approach to respond to the spread of jellyfish. Another participant from the aquaculture sector pointed out that the regular occurrence of jellyfish blooms around the Egyptian north coast is likely to lead to more negative consequences for tourism, fishing, and fish farming sectors in the future. With respect to the tourism sector, the private sector organizations expressed the economic problems they encountered this summer in particular due to Jellyfish attacks as “vacationers are complaining about the growing numbers of Jellyfish as they are simply afraid to get into the water”. This in turn has led many vacationers to shorten their stays and has in turn “greatly reduced the occupancy ration in many tourist resorts this summer”.</p>
<p>The discussions resulted in a number of useful policy recommendations which may help reduce the adverse effects of Jellyfish on the North Coast of the country, and the participants have particularly agreed that there is an urgent need to carry out comprehensive in-depth research to study the Jellyfish infestations phenomenon taking into account the ecological and the economic dimensions as well as the negative impacts and the potential positive benefits that can be utilized. </p>
<p><em>Photo credit: Shaimaa Hatab</em></p>
07 Aug 2017shaimaa Hatabhttp://africa.ypard.net/2017-08-07/plague-jellyfish-economic-and-biological-effectSupporting youth to be the masters of their own destinyhttp://africa.ypard.net/2017-08-07/supporting-youth-be-masters-their-own-destiny
<p>At YPARD, we strongly believe that empowering young people is best achieved by supporting youth to be the masters of their own destiny. Our members have so many fantastic ideas but face many struggles in implementing them due to lack of financial and moral support.</p>
<p>This is the reason whywhen we see opportunities for young people’s ideas to be supported, we jump on them. The 2017 Young Africa Works Summit presented one such opportunity. Fifty youth delegates from across Africa travelled to Kigali in February and over three days they presented their ideas, asked questions and met people who could support them. But could these ideas, questions and connections have a ripple effect beyond the Summit?</p>
<p>To test that assumption, we asked youth delegates to form groups based on the countries they are currently living in, and submit ideas to YPARD about how they could support each other to amplify opportunities and impact in their own work and for YPARD members in their countries.</p>
<p>From training Tazanian farmers to use sustainable farming to urban farm business development in Uganda, the ideas submitted by youth delegates are amazing and with the support of the MasterCard Foundation, we have provided seed funding to each group of youth delegates to implement these ideas.</p>
<p>Here are the activities the delegates are undertaking this year 2017. We look forward to sharing their learnings with you in a few months!</p>
<p>Youth delegates in Ghana will present to students of the Kwadaso and Ejura agricultural colleges about the benefits of a career in agriculture, tour Ghana’s best agribusiness enterprises and receive project management training. Contact Emmanuel to find out more: <a href="mailto:fiifiemmanuel12@gmail.com">fiifiemmanuel12@gmail.com</a></p>
<p>From September, youth delegates in Nigeria are organising seminars for secondary school students in government owned schools in Abuja and Nassarawa to sensitize and orient the students about the potentials in agriculture. They hope to set up vegetable plots at every secondary school to teach the students favorable and best agronomical practices. Contact Olawale to find out more: <a href="mailto:ypardnigeria@gmail.com">ypardnigeria@gmail.com</a></p>
<p>Youth delegates in Rwanda are working with 30 smallholder farmers in Kirehe and Muhanga districts to put together a best farming practices training manual that helps increase the quality and quantity of banana and sweet potato crops. Contact Pacifique to find out more: <a href="mailto:pacifiquens@gmail.com">pacifiquens@gmail.com</a></p>
<p>Youth delegates in Malawi are tackling gender disparities in education by running career guidance and vision setting workshops for girls in rural primary and secondary schools. Contact Pilirani to find out more: <a href="mailto:piliranikhoza@gmail.com">piliranikhoza@gmail.com</a></p>
<p>Youth delegates in Uganda are starting their own urban vegetable farming cooperative. They aim to promote skills building as well as attracting young people to agriculture as a profession. Contact Francis to find out more: <a href="mailto:rinaitwefrancis@gmail.com">rinaitwefrancis@gmail.com</a></p>
<p>Youth delegates in Kenya are visiting farms to acquire hands on farming technical skills required in agriculture and will pass on that knowledge to the other youths in their counties. Contact Emmanuel to find out more: <a href="mailto:ypardkenya@gmail.com">ypardkenya@gmail.com</a></p>
<p>Youth delegates in Costa Rica are planning an exchange program where university scholars, YPARD members and UN representatives will be able to share experiences, have an opportunity to pitch for startup capital and be mentored by a community of professionally-diverse and experienced mentors. Contact Annet to find out more: <a href="mailto:amukamurenzi1@gmail.com">amukamurenzi1@gmail.com</a></p>
<p><span lang="EN" style="color:#222222" xml:lang="EN">Youth delegates in Tanzania have convened a five day training in regenerative agriculture, entrepreneurship and business development at Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania Farmer Training Centre in Morogoro. Contact Janet to find out more: <a href="mailto:janet.maro@kilimo.org">janet.maro@kilimo.org</a></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN" style="color:#222222" xml:lang="EN">Photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mastercardfoundation/32135945333/in/album-72157679981996186/" target="_blank">The MasterCard Foundation</a></span></p>
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07 Aug 2017Michelle Kovacevichttp://africa.ypard.net/2017-08-07/supporting-youth-be-masters-their-own-destinyAgenda 2030: The role of youth in peace, security and sustainability http://africa.ypard.net/2017-08-07/agenda-2030-role-youth-peace-security-and-sustainability
<p>Let me start by wishing all of you a very happy ‘International Youth Day’.</p>
<p>On 17 December 1999, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth (Lisbon, 8-12 August 1998) to declare ‘August 12’ as the International Youth Day (to know more about the history read <a href="http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/54/120" target="_blank">UN resolution 54/120</a>). This initiative reverberated with the growing acknowledgment to position Youth as the agents of change and made a high-level case for young professionals to be included in development debates, including discussions of peace, security and our ‘common future’ in a globalized world. Recent discussions (S/RES/2282, 2016) at the UN Security Council Resolution also reiterates the significance of the role of the young professionals in tackling conflicts, and in peacebuilding efforts. That said, the youth day in 2017 is dedicated to celebrating young people’s contributions to conflict prevention and transformation as well as inclusion, social justice, and sustainable peace with the theme- ‘<a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/youthday/" target="_blank">Youth Building Peace</a>’</p>
<p>Let me try to describe what it means for us; as many or most of you may be hearing about ‘Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ and the <a href="http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/" target="_blank">Sustainable Development Goals</a> with its embedded objectives to create inclusive and peaceful societies and nations. Say, for example, the SDG 16- that aims to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development and provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels or SDG 17, that talks about strengthening the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development. Clearly, the role of the youth is critical to the attainment of these development goals and subsequently the youth will also be largely impacted by the outcome of actions that nations will undertake to realize the SDG agenda- after all, the talk is about our ‘common future’.</p>
<p>Recently, I participated in the 32nd Global Forum on Agricultural Research Steering Committee Meeting and the Strategic Workshop. As a multi-stakeholder-led initiative, GFAR provides a consultative dialogue forum to discuss what constitutes ‘collective action' in the agricultural research and innovation sector and interestingly, focused attention was provided for youth issues in the dialogues. Let me mention the <a href="http://ypard.net/mentoring" target="_blank">YPARD Mentoring programs</a> or the <a href="http://ypard.net/search?search=youth+dialogues" target="_blank">Inter regional youth dialogues</a>.</p>
<h4>The GFAR steering committee meeting<span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,sans-serif"><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/files/gfar5.jpg" style="border-width: 2px; border-style: solid; margin: 6px; width: 1200px; height: 800px;" /></span></span></h4>
<p>The meeting and workshop attended by 29 Steering Committee members and the team GFAR (headed by Mark Holderness, Executive Secretary) and representatives of IFAD (Shantanu Mathur) and FAO (Ren Wang, Assistant Director General of FAO’s Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department) provided a platform to openly discuss and crucially analyze common interests and joint objectives that will contribute to defining the Key Focus Areas (KFA’s ) and ‘Collective Action Design Principles’ of the GFAR medium terms plan (MTP-2018-2021) and initiate a discussion how this approach can be adopted in relation to fulfilling the goals and targets of Agenda 2030. Building on the discussions from the ‘Strategic Workshop on Collective Agenda for SDG’s’ that was annexed with the Steering Committee meeting, I’m very confident that YPARD will benefit by boosting interaction with GFAR towards realizing the agenda of transforming agricultural production, research and innovation systems. The exchange during the event reinforced a plan for a collective strategy that calls for multi-stakeholder and multi-partner initiatives.</p>
<p><em><strong>The KFA’s of GFAR include; rural communities shaping their own futures; determining rural innovation needs; rights, equity, and empowerment in agroecosystems; access to and value of open data and information and gender &amp; youth focused interventions in the ARD landscape and these KFA’s observe the guiding theories [Foresight for Better Futures; Partnerships for Impact; Transformative Investments; Capacities for Change; Research in Society and Accountability for Action.</strong></em></p>
<p>For YPARD, it remains important to lead the ‘youth’ dimension in the SDG related discussions, more so in the ARD context, and work closely with GFAR and its constituent members, to accomplish our objectives on mentorship and transformational learning. In addition, the collective agenda action plan will carefully consider alignment with the priorities of UN FAO and as GFAR plans to focus on the SDG 17, multi-stakeholder partnership model and collective agenda approach to addresses the targets outlined in the food, poverty, health and well-being related goals and targets, SDG’s 2,5, 8, 10, &amp; 12. YPARD should make focused efforts to join hands in the strategic partnerships that will empower the youth to remain connected with sustainable development related policy dialogues.</p>
<p>As a representative of the global youth consistency of GFAR, YPARD is all geared to drive the cause to mobilize inputs from partners in GFAR constituency network, as to what each wishes to accomplish and support their objectives and actions towards the Youth inclusive SDG’s agenda implementation planning. The productive discussions of the meeting assisted me towards understanding the tactics of consensus building in a multiple-partner initiative and process of managing roles, responsibilities, pledges and expectations towards implementing ‘collective action’. If YPARD aims to adopt this collective action thinking, it needs to build a comprehensive understanding of the ‘collective action framework’ and how that lays possibilities towards the accomplishment of SDG goals and targets. The meeting also provided space and opportunity for bilateral discussions with key stakeholders interested in youth issues, to mention among others, representative of CGIAR institute ICARDA, Alisher Tashmatov and Dr. Mohammad M. Ajlouni, Executive Secretary, Association of Agriculture Research Institutions in the Near East &amp; North Africa, Jordan. </p>
<p>Overall, the discussions were crucial to realize the approach (collective action agenda) towards harnessing collective intelligence for common goals, partnership building and shaping of an action plan to transform innovation systems concept from theory to practice. The ‘collective actions’ compiled during the event will be further discussed and developed by those concerned and truly owns the youth mandate.</p>
<p>YPARD should position itself to lead this collective agenda for ‘supporting Youth–led movements for change’ in mobilizing and engaging with young people to develop and determine their vision of sustainable futures.</p>
<p>Essentially, common ‘youth’ agenda can be effectively accomplished through collaboration and exchange of data, information, and knowledge between various networks and initiatives that are making mindful efforts to warrant well-organized and productive role of ‘youth’ in the development debates and policy dialogues. This involves producing more food while using less water, building the resilience of farming communities to cope with floods and droughts, and applying clean water technologies that protect the environment. I would like to see us working closely with GFAR to leverage opportunities for collaboration on domains of common interest, more so in the food security and SDG context.</p>
<p>Together, with GFAR and others, lets us explore innovative models of engagement among young professionals and strategies to support the development of youth capacities as they engage in exploring their desired futures in the SDG agenda time period.</p>
<p>Team YPARD, enjoy your day and feel this renewed passion of creating a new world. You may also want to look into the <a href="http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/documents/wpay2010.pdf" target="_blank">World Programme of Action for Youth</a> that offers a policy framework and applied strategies to advance the situation of young people while encouraging "promoting the active involvement of youth in maintaining peace and security"</p>
<p><em><strong>Nidhi Nagabhatla from <a href="http://inweh.unu.edu/" target="_blank">UNU INWEH</a> who is also the Chair of YPARD and steering committee member of GFAR features in the video blog- ‘<a href="https://blog.gfar.net/2017/07/05/designing-the-future-of-gfar-common-values-and-commitment-required/" target="_blank">Designing the Future of GFAR: Common Values and Commitment Required</a>’ carrying the message ‘Discussing Agenda 2030- certainly can’t leave youth behind’’</strong></em></p>
<p><em>Photo credit: GFAR</em></p>
07 Aug 2017Nidhi Nagabhatlahttp://africa.ypard.net/2017-08-07/agenda-2030-role-youth-peace-security-and-sustainabilityBuilding African food security championshttp://africa.ypard.net/2017-july-31/building-african-food-security-champions
<p><img alt="Workshop" src="/sites/ypard.net/files/FS%20Champs.jpg" style="width: 580px; height: 327px; border-width: 2px; border-style: solid; margin: 6px;" />Africa is a blessed continent with abundance of arable land, natural resources, cultures, business potentials, investment opportunities and young people who are creative thinkers and professionals across all sectors.</p><p>Agriculture in Africa is a goldmine with potentials not fully activated owing to impending challenges such as land tenure, lack of accessibility to finances, lack of youth interest in agriculture which resulted into migration, absence of effective and efficient agricultural policies, lack of access to market, inadequate agricultural data and many more have crippled the sector.</p><p>The tides are changing and Africa is regaining its agricultural and economic pride among other regions of the world. Dr. Akinwumi Adesina in his <a href="https://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/keynote-speech-delivered-by-akinwumi-a-adesina-president-of-the-african-development-bank-group-at-the-annual-meeting-of-the-african-development-bank-group-ahmedabad-india-may-22-25-2017-17019/" target="_blank">speech during the 2017 Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank Group</a>, he said that “Africa must rise quickly and unlock the full potential of its agriculture by opening up investment opportunities and making it cool for young people.”</p><p>The <a href="https://www.feedthefuture.gov/" target="_blank">USAID Feed the Future program</a> commissioned Africa Lead to serve USAID’s primary capacity building program in sub Saharan Africa by working to help realize Feed the Future (FTF) goals of reduced hunger and poverty by building the capacity of African agriculture professionals, institutions and stakeholders to develop, lead and manage the structures needed for the transformation process.</p><p>The 5-day Africa Lead’s Entrepreneurship and Agribusiness Development Short Course held at the Dover Hotel Lagos, Nigeria between 17th to 21st July 2017 was organized by <a href="http://www.africaleadftf.org/" target="_blank">AfricaLead</a> under the strong pillar of <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/nigeria" target="_blank">USAID</a> <a href="https://www.feedthefuture.gov/" target="_blank">Feed The Future</a> program in partnership with some foremost youth network – <a href="https://web.facebook.com/Fresh-Young-Brains-Development-Initiative-116291581742807/" target="_blank">Fresh and Young Brains Development Initiative</a>, <a href="https://panafricanyouthnetwork.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Pan African Youth Network for Agriculture (PAYNA</a>), <a href="http://www.leapafrica.org/" target="_blank">LEAPAfrica</a> and <a href="file:///C:/Users/Watersprout/Downloads/africanharvesters.com/" target="_blank">African Harvester</a>.</p><p>The goals of the short course centered on developing the capacity of young entrepreneurs in agribusiness identification, planning and management to strengthen startups and expanding existing enterprises.</p><p>The bootcamp had in attendance forty young vibrant influencers who are contributing to food security in Africa. These young professionals are CEOs, Co-founders, Agribusiness starters, Value Chain Catalyst, Business Developers, Agricultural Consultants, Processors, Market dealers, Agric input dealers and experts in the field of ICT for Agriculture.</p><h3>How it all started: Understanding the end from the beginning</h3><p>It was Monday morning and all participants introduced themselves as well as the facilitators for the training. This was immediately followed by pre-survey assessment to identify individual training needs and the possible expectations of participants from the training.</p><p>Understanding that capacity building is an integral part of running a successful agribusiness, the days were well planned and executed as follows:</p><p>The first day of the training ensured that we familiarized ourselves with our interesting and well-articulated facilitators Mrs. Cecillia Addae from Africa Lead, Mrs. <a href="http://www.vickyudomi.com/" target="_blank">Vicky Udomi</a> (The Cassava Queen of Africa) and one of the foremost <a href="file:///C:/Users/Watersprout/Downloads/johnmaxwellteam.com/" target="_blank">John Maxwell</a> Leadership Expert and a Certified Coach - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lillianadegbola/?ppe=1" target="_blank">Lillian Adegbola</a> and the master mind behind the training logistic - John Awua-Kyerematen</p><p>The first session of the day was facilitated by Mrs. Cecillia which focused on principles and practices of entrepreneurship. This session used practical explanations, participatory approach and case studies, on-field experience sharing, questions and observations to aid the facilitation.</p><p>The second session centered around challenges and business opportunities in selected value chain where Coach Lillian in her dynamic ways of ensuring deeper understanding of the value chain and leaving no one behind, used a role play for cassava value chain with Garri as the end-product. The last session of the day was on developing an agribusiness plan and business canvas model. A full narrative about the events on the first day can be accessed <a href="https://medium.com/@johnagboola/agricoolture-knowing-and-practicing-entrepreneurship-and-agribusiness-fundamentals-a73e91840503" target="_blank">here</a></p><p>The second day built up momentum, for learning, sharing ideas and working together as a team on group different group tasks. The day started with a recap of previous sessions and thus, a drive to session 4 on how business planning tool can aid success in agribusiness. The day was full of rigorous learning covering session 5, 6 and 7 respectively on the importance of identifying your market; carrying out a market research for selected business and how entrepreneurs can develop a marketing plan</p><p>The third day looks bright and participants were energetic to cover the highlighted sessions 8, 9 and 10 on developing a production and operational plan; internal management and labor requirements and importance of good record keeping. The adopted training approach is to have participants give a summary of lessons learnt the previous day to ensure that no one is left behind. This day was one of the most exciting days as each session used participatory approach of learning such as case studies, group assignment and role play. The role play had participants grouped into 3 to display the importance of book keeping for three different case studies. It was an eye opener to several reasons to keeping records in any business. All the three-group performed excellently well with key lessons drawn from the role play and gifts were given to each group.</p><p>Often said that each day present the opportunity to learn and experience something new. The activity for the fourth day started with prayer and recap of day 3 activities. Changing the face of the usual facilitators, another dynamic facilitator – Mr. Tunji Abugu a seasoned business management coach and financial analyst took us through session 11 and 12 on financial management and risk management. It was an interesting session as the day ended with the Cassava Queen of Africa on how entrepreneurs can develop an executive summary of a business plan.</p><p>The fifth day was indeed the grand finale of the boot camp and we are all dressed in the crested FeedTheFuture shirt – a symbol of our readiness to go out and implement lessons learnt. Despite being the last day for major closing ceremony, our facilitators ensure that we finish the remaining sessions on writing a winning business plan; monitoring and evaluation and a detailed summary of all sessions from first day till the last day. Evaluating the impact of the training, a post-course survey questionnaire was administered to participants for both the training and the facilitators.</p><p>It was a well-planned grand finale with media personnel in attendance and representatives from <a href="http://www.synergos.org/" target="_blank">Snygergo International</a>, <a href="http://sahelcp.com/" target="_blank">Sahel Capital</a>, African Harvester and LEAPAfrica who gave goodwill messages on how young people should maximize the opportunities in agriculture and be a champion for change in the agricultural sector. Awards were given to outstanding participants and certificate of participation to all participants.</p><p>The 5-day Entrepreneurship and Agribusiness Development Bootcamp was indeed a success and thanks to USAID and Africa Lead. Part of my declaration and host of others from the training is to be committed, learn continuously, develop agribusiness models, awaken the entrepreneurship spirit in African youth, championing change, feeding the world, identifying problems and providing sustainable solutions, ensuring African food security, strive for poverty reduction and maximizing the potentials of African Agriculture to attain Zero Hunger.</p>31 Jul 2017John Agboolahttp://africa.ypard.net/2017-july-31/building-african-food-security-championsCameroun : Olivier Mapouré, un jeune ingénieur paysanhttp://africa.ypard.net/2017-july-20/cameroun-olivier-mapour%C3%A9-un-jeune-ing%C3%A9nieur-paysan
<h4 style="clear: both;"><strong><img alt="Olivier Mapouré au champ " src="/sites/ypard.net/files/jeune-715x400_0.jpg" style="width: 715px; height: 400px; border-width: 2px; border-style: solid; margin: 6px; float: left;" /></strong></h4><p style="clear: both;"><strong>Il e</strong><strong>st l’une des jeunes pousses de l’agriculture camerounaise. Installé à Essong-Mitsang, à 20 km au nord de Yaoundé, Olivier Mapouré conduit des mains de maître sa ferme agropastorale intégrée.</strong></p><p>Péage de Nkometou dans le département de la Lékié, on a une dizaine de minutes sur 4km de route carrossable en voiture ou à moto, et voilà la ferme agropastorale intégrée: «Mapouré Agri-business».<br />Un espace de 3,7 hectares dont 7000 m² de bas-fond, où agriculture, élevage, maraîchage, agro-forêt et pisciculture se côtoient et permettent au jeune homme de réaliser son rêve.</p><p><br />Le travail de la terre, il le tient de son père, dit-il. Celui-ci, quoiqu’enseignant et Proviseur de lycée, tire la grande partie de ses revenus du travail de la terre. Célestine sa mère, agricultrice à la base est aussi enseignante de profession. De cette ascendance, l’enfant acquerra une habileté manuelle exceptionnelle dans l’activité agricole.</p><h4><strong>L’agriculture est un métier</strong></h4><p>Tout jeune, Olivier conçoit son modèle agropastoral: <a href="http://new.lavoixdupaysan.net/cameroun-jai-lance-cacaoyere-bourse-detudiant/">faire de l’agriculture un métier</a>, mais innover dans sa façon de faire. Pour innover, Olivier a dû passer par une formation pointue et assidue. En effet, après l’obtention du Certificat d’études primaires à la mission catholique de Foumban et du Baccalauréat au Lycée classique et moderne de Bafia, Olivier s’inscrit à l’Université de Yaoundé 1, filière sciences de la terre, sanctionné 5 ans plus tard par un master 2 en hydrologie et assainissement des eaux. En 2011, il est admis à la Faculté d’agronomie et des sciences agricoles (Fasa) de l’Université de Dschang. En 2012 et 2014, il obtient le diplôme d’ingénieur des travaux agricoles et celui d’ingénieur agro-économiste.</p><p>Originaire du département du Noun dans la région de l’Ouest, il est l’ainé d’une famille de six enfants. A vingt-cinq ans, célibataire, il bénéficie de la confiance de sa famille.</p><p>De cette confiance, il reçoit un terrain familial à Essong-Mitsang pour exprimer sa passion. C’est le début de la matérialisation de son rêve d’agriculteur. Pour Olivier, l’agriculture est une activité du temps de vigueur et non de retraite.</p><p>Article publié sur le site de <a href="http://new.lavoixdupaysan.net/cameroun-olivier-mapoure-jeune-ingenieur-paysan/" target="_blank">lavoixdupaysan.net</a></p>20 Jul 2017Lemien Sakalungahttp://africa.ypard.net/2017-july-20/cameroun-olivier-mapour%C3%A9-un-jeune-ing%C3%A9nieur-paysanWorld Youth Skills Day: time for collective actions http://africa.ypard.net/2017-july-14/world-youth-skills-day-time-collective-actions
<p><img alt="" src="/sites/ypard.net/files/mush2.jpg" style="width: 580px; height: 326px; border-width: 2px; border-style: solid; margin: 6px;" /></p><p>Last year, I wrote on <a href="http://www.ypard.net/2016-july-15/15-july-it%E2%80%99s-world-youth-skills-day-today">World Youth Skills day</a>, with an optimistic note. The <a href="https://www.worldskills.org/what/promoting-skills/world-youth-skills-day/2017/" target="_blank">World Youth Skills Day</a> arrives yet again on 15 July 2017.</p><p>Does it mean all world’s youth become skilled hereinafter? Perhaps no, until at every level actions are taken in skilling the youth and may be collective actions are required to equip youth with income and employment securing skills.</p><p>A number of organizations, agencies and schemes across several sectors are engaged in youth skilling task in India. Over 700 million people are estimated to be of working age (24-59 years) in India by 2020. Of these, approximately 500 million workers, including those who temporarily <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/2-2013-challenges-india-s-livelihood-youth-skill-development-rural-areas" target="_blank">migrate from rural to urban areas in lean agricultural seasons, will require some kind of vocational/skill training</a> . This is a gigantic task before the government and surely government alone can’t do it, I believe. May be the collective action of various agencies could be helpful in skilling the youth in various ventures in agriculture sector.</p><p>The Government of India has launched several schemes for skilling its vast work force, especially the youth. The major skill development scheme, <a href="http://www.pmkvyofficial.org/Index.aspx" target="_blank">Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana</a> (PMKVY) has been approved for another four years (2016-2020) to benefit 10 million youth with allocated budget of 12,000 Crore Indian rupees (US$18612000000). The PMKVY operates through 36 sector specific skill councils. For instance, the <a href="http://www.pmkvyofficial.org/Agriculture_Sector_Skill_Council_of_India.aspx" target="_blank">Agriculture Sector Skill Council of India</a> (ASCI), targets to touch/ upgrade skills of about 56.49 million of cultivators, agricultural labours and direct and indirect labour engaged in organized and unorganized agriculture industry viz, farm inputs, procurement, supply chain, warehousing / logistics etc. The ASCI has been designed to cater to the customers of the agricultural industry. Again, the ASCI on its own may not be sufficient enough in skilling many different areas within broad agricultural sector, unless it joins hand with other agencies.</p><p>In the last few months, I met some highly self motivated youth who are doing inspiring work in different aspects of agriculture. Mr. Mahendra Kumar Gangwar, for instance, acquired mushroom cultivation skills and later established a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Leeward-Golden-Mushroom-Farmer-Producer-Company-Limited-194335137619643/" target="_blank">mushroom producer company</a>with whatever help he could get from the government schemes. <a href="http://www.ivri.nic.in/services/kvk/default.aspx" target="_blank">The Krishi Vigyan Kendra of ICAR- Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar </a> equipped him on skills needed in mushroom cultivation, while the <a href="https://www.nabard.org/" target="_blank">National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development</a> (NABARD) assisted him in forming the producer company. He is very passionate about mushrooms and he wants to promote this new edible crop in the region where it is yet not very popular among the farmers and consumers. Mushrooms as we know are very nutritious but in short supply, hence an opportunity in providing for the youth to learn the skills needed for mushroom cultivation and earn handsome income.</p><p><img alt="" src="/sites/ypard.net/files/mush.jpg" style="width: 580px; height: 773px; border-width: 2px; border-style: solid; margin: 6px;" /></p><p>Mushroom has the potential to reap high returns, especially among <a href="http://kw.awcfs.org/article/women-and-youth-reap-highly-from-mushroom-farming/" target="_blank">women and youth</a> who may find it highly rewarding to engage in mushroom cultivation. <a href="http://www.sify.com/news/manipur-youth-take-up-mushroom-cultivation-news-national-next4qggdecsi.html" target="_blank">Youth in various parts of India</a> are taking up mushroom cultivation and finding it financially well paying.</p><h3>Remembering YAP</h3><p>On mushrooms, I read with great interest the <a href="https://blog.gfar.net/2016/02/24/yap-proposal-11-mushroom-farming-melano-dadalauri-georgia/" target="_blank">YAP proposal #11 by Melano Dadalauri</a> aged 25 from Georgia, who finds mushroom cultivation highly promising for youth ). In addition, among the YAP finalists, 28 year old <a href="https://blog.gfar.net/2016/02/25/yap-proposal-35-mushroom-farming-serem-sila-kenya/" target="_blank">Serem Sila’s project on mushroom production in Kenya</a>, was one of the interesting project. Mushroom cultivation is just one among the several ventures proposed by youths for YAP. Although only eight youth could make it to the final list, several skill oriented projects submitted indicate the willingness of today’s youth to better their lives through innovative work skills. Youth are willing to learn, test/experiment and put to productive use what they learnt and tested for their livelihoods. What is lacking, opportunities to incubate and test their ideas to make them work. Perhaps we need collective action, the kind of YAP by GFAR and YPARD, which was one unique project full of opportunities to youth towards making them agripreneurs. All the YAP finalists could be successful due to mentorship from GFAR. I got motivated with the YAP project and initiated a <a href="http://www.ypard.net/testimonials/mentoring-rural-youth-make-agriculture-attractive" target="_blank">youth mentoring programme at my institute to mentor 100 rural youth</a>.</p><p>This <a href="https://blog.gfar.net/2017/06/15/the-year-of-the-yap-a-tale-of-genius-power-and-magic/" target="_blank"><strong>recent update from the YAP mentee Lillian Beauttah</strong></a> from Kenya and other YAPs tells about the Year of the YAP: A Tale of Genius, Power and Magic.These YAP finalists give a clear message to the youth of the world, that they can do what they dream and believe provided they are ready to do so and begin doing it!</p><p>Looking forward to more projects like YAP coming through collective actions of many organizations beyond GFAR and YPARD .Congratulations to all youth on World Youth Skills Day. Wishing them agripreneurial successes!</p><p><em>Guest blog post by Mahesh Chander (drmahesh.chander(at)gmail.com), Head, Division of Extension Education, ICAR- Indian Veterinary Research Institute.</em><em>The views expressed are personal, and cannot be attributed to ICAR or YPARD.</em></p><p><em>Photo credits: Dr Mahesh Chander</em></p><p> </p>14 Jul 2017Mahesh Chanderhttp://africa.ypard.net/2017-july-14/world-youth-skills-day-time-collective-actionsTips on standing out as a workshop facilitator http://africa.ypard.net/2017-july-13/tips-standing-out-workshop-facilitator
<div><img alt="workshop facilitation" src="/sites/ypard.net/files/article1.jpg" style="width: 580px; height: 387px; border-width: 2px; border-style: solid; margin: 6px;" />Leading a workshop is always daunting. You can be extremely prepared but you never really know what kind of group dynamic you will meet in a workshop room. </div><div> </div><div>It is therefore extremely important that a workshop facilitator knows how to effectively get people to discuss strategic and innovative ideas, progress and next steps at a workshop.</div><div> </div><div>After four years of facilitating several workshops to train more than five thousand smallholders and agricultural stakeholders to adopt mobile technology for Rural Advisory Services (RAS), here are some valuable guidelines and tips on how a facilitator can brush up on their approach, and ensure that attendees are guided towards productive results from a workshop session.</div><ol><li>Start the meeting with an introduction: Present yourself, your organisation, and explain what your role in your organisation is. Give detailed address to your organisation’s office(s). Introduce all other persons who are with you on the trip, but be more intentional about some details to establish credibility. An example of this is explaining the benefits of the products and services your organisation offers, partners, customers, and the impact that the services and products you provide have made. This builds trust. Then, allow your participants (depending on their number) to introduce themselves. Always observe and acknowledge all community leaders present at your workshop.</li><li>State clearly the purpose of the workshop and explain what participants should expect from the workshop.</li><li>During your facilitation process, acknowledge and respect the views of others, and let everybody feel cherished and appreciated. Never tell participants that their answer is wrong. Show appreciation for their courage to speak up, and then politely reveal the gaps in the given answer. When done well, the participant would admit the wrong in their answers.</li><li>Be open-minded to new ideas and opinions, and ask thought-challenging questions to initiate discussion. Here are some phrases you can use to open up discussions: What would happen if we did? In your experience, what do you think would work? Tell me about… What do you think about? What ideas do you have?</li><li>Discuss issues, never personalities. You can disagree with someone without disliking them.</li><li>Avoid the use of phrases like “good idea but…” Whenever you use but, people instantly become aware of the negative ending. You can say, “It’s a good idea. Can we think of it this way?”</li><li>Always avoid confrontations and stay away from local/national politics. Often times, this creates tension and may spark anger among participants. Some participants may want to reveal their political colours and will intentionally seek your comments on some political issues to validate their assumption. However, as a professional, it is okay to fairly point out certain gaps in some national policies.</li><li>As a facilitator, ensure your participants speak one at a time. This helps to maintain order and allows everyone one to be heard. If there is someone taking notes, speaking one at a time helps them to record all the salient points.</li><li>Keep comments brief and relevant. Some attendees may be busy people and a precious use of their time would be in their interest.</li><li>Be enthusiastic and use the right tone.</li><li>Don’t dress to attract attention on yourself rather than your message. Where possible, wear your organisation’s branded shirts. Female participants should also be moderate with their makeup, so not to distract participants.</li><li>Be vulnerable. If you share a personal story relevant to your message or particular point, your message would be well received.</li><li>Let everyone know that what is discussed is confidential and will not be used outside the workshop.</li><li>If you are not fluent in the local dialect of the area where you are conducting the workshop, get a translator and engage them about your message before the workshop.</li><li>Give participants the opportunity to ask questions and address their concerns professionally</li><li>Summarize the main points at the end of the presentation and initiate the action points.</li><li>Get snacks and drinks so the people will feel more comfortable. Soft music can also help.</li></ol><div> </div><div> </div>13 Jul 2017Bright Schandorf Aduhttp://africa.ypard.net/2017-july-13/tips-standing-out-workshop-facilitatorHow anyone can help the beeshttp://africa.ypard.net/2017-july-12/how-anyone-can-help-bees
<p><img alt="" src="/sites/ypard.net/files/bees-2368228_960_720.jpg" style="width: 580px; height: 386px; border-width: 2px; border-style: solid; margin: 6px;" /></p>
<p>Bees are more vital to our ecosystem (and your local grocery) than you may even know.</p>
<p>“While bees are not the only pollinators we have … they're by far the best creatures for the job. In part, this is because they need pollen to feed their larvae, so they're biologically driven to gather the stuff.” notes. Because of this, protecting the bees is of the highest calling. If you care about the health of our global ecology, you will do your part to help at home - and remember, anything (however small) helps.</p>
<p>Through a combination of human practices like widespread pesticide use, habitat destruction, and the harrowing effects of climate change, we are witnessing a decline in bee colonies around the globe. It’s a scary prospect, and such a global one that you may feel as though it’s out of your control. The fact is, however, you can do your part to help protect these vital creatures.</p>
<h3>Only buy local honey</h3>
<p>The stuff that comes in the plastic bee containers at the supermarket may be cheap and convenient, but if you want to truly help the bee population you should try to only purchase local, organic honey.</p>
<p>“The decline in bee colonies has hit beekeepers hard. Many local beekeepers are working diligently to keep bee populations healthy, while they struggle to survive financially. By buying locally sourced honey you support local beekeepers and your community.</p>
<p>Not only that but local beekeepers are much more likely to be keeping in a manner that’s better for the bees (as opposed to a large commercial apiary).</p>
<h3>Start your own little bee garden (no matter how small)</h3>
<p>Even if you only have a small space within the premises of your house, you can still do your part to support the local bee population by creating a little bee garden. All healthy gardens are friendly to bees, but there are some things you can do to make your particular garden a little more inviting.</p>
<p>Bees do prefer certain plants - generally flowering vegetable and herb plants and local, native wildflowers. They also prefer single (as opposed to double) petal plants so that it’s easier to access the pollen. And if you want to attract the most bees, try to go heavy on the blues and yellows. There are <a href="http://www.almanac.com/vegetable-garden-planning-for-beginners" target="_blank">few tips on gardening for beginners</a>.</p>
<p>In this <a href="https://www.redfin.com/blog/2016/04/how-to-start-your-own-urban-garden.html" target="_blank">garden</a> of yours, no matter how large or how small, it’s vital that you give the bees a place to stop for water. Not only do they need it to survive like all other living creatures, but it will help them with digestion and in the building and maintaining of hives. Bee baths, unlike bird baths, need to be shallow and contain rocks and stones for landing.</p>
<p>Finally, do whatever you can to avoid pesticides, which can have a damaging effect on local bee populations. If you want to fight pests, try planting a smart garden that utilizes naturally repellent plants.</p>
<h3>Speak with your wallet</h3>
<p>Though you can do a lot on a local scale to help bees, the problem is a global one. The way you can make your conservation efforts stretch beyond your home is to make your voice heard - with your wallet. Donating to bee conservation groups can help them with preservation, outreach, and research that go toward saving colonies all over the world.</p>
<p> </p>
12 Jul 2017Christy Ericksonhttp://africa.ypard.net/2017-july-12/how-anyone-can-help-beesYPARD Nigeria Café: The role of extension and advisory serviceshttp://africa.ypard.net/2017-july-5/ypard-nigeria-caf%C3%A9-role-extension-and-advisory-services
<p align="center"><img alt="" src="/sites/ypard.net/files/35631378325_941e63627d_z.jpg" style="width: 580px; height: 386px; border-width: 2px; border-style: solid; margin: 6px;" /></p><p>Sailing through the algorithm of creating a revolutionary change in the agricultural sector requires all hands on deck.</p><div>The itinerary behind getting all hands-on deck to ensure a formidable transformation requires young professionals being the key target audience under the broad umbrella of Agriculture. The scenario is a difficult one but having in place, a well-crafted and functional structure with proper priorities for young people to give them a platform, a community, a network and ultimately, a feeling of self-belonging – for young people and by young people.</div><p>The birth of this top-notch priority for young people resulted into an international platform of Young Professionals for Agricultural Development which is simply – A movement by young professionals and for young professionals for agricultural and research development. One of the adaptive process of doing it right for young professionals is organizing a Café where young people meet, interact, learn, share experiences and discuss on possible ways of advancing youth interest in agriculture.</p><p>YPARD Nigeria organized its first YPARD café on 10<sup>th</sup> June, 2017 as a pilot to other states of operation across the country. The café had a broad theme “Understanding challenges and opportunities in extension and advisory services”. The café had in attendance seventeen young professionals from different spheres of agriculture including, farming, consultancy, IT professionals and an agricultural teacher against the intended forty participants.</p><p>At the start of the café, Majid Tokurah, the Lagos representative welcomed everyone and reinstated the purpose of the café as an indispensable platform to strengthen YPARD Nigeria and its network among registered Young professionals. Participants introduced themselves - stating their names, what they do, the year they joined YPARD, how YPARD has benefitted them and the possible way of advancing YPARD and its operations among members.</p><p>It was a satisfactory and encouraging section as individuals shared their agricultural journey, academic background, perspective about agriculture and how they have significantly benefitted from YPARD with specific emphasis on information sharing on agriculture and existing opportunities. With the ball already in motion, the country representative expressed his happiness that YPARD is meeting its set objectives to ensure inclusiveness for young people in agriculture. Detailing the YPARD mission and how YPARD Nigeria contributes to the set objectives, concerns were raised about YPARD Nigeria activities and area of adjustment were addressed with the assurance of reviewing the activities to ensure relevance to young people.Instantaneously, the country representative encouraged members who are farm owners to develop training program for young people in their state of operation and YPARD will be ready to support such initiatives.</p><h3><strong>Discussions on extension and advisory services</strong></h3><p>Young people taking charge as extension agent and working closely with farmers is a key to attaining food security, sustainable agriculture and inclusive economic growth because there is shortage of extension agents. Setting the pace right, YPARD Nigeria invited its member and an agronomist with <a href="https://ifdc.org/">International Fertilizer Development Cooperation</a> (IFDC). Tolulope Ayeyemi shared her success story of how her Dad teaches agriculture in secondary school and how her over seven years of working closely with farmers, agro allied dealers and extension agents across the country has helped her career and also thought her the fact about farmers being the most interesting and difficult set of people to work with.</p><p>Restating the definition of extension agents as the carriers of information and innovation to farmers, enabling them boost productivity and increase income. The keynote speaker asserted that agriculture is critical to any country’s economy and that food is one of the basic necessities of life. In one of her prior observations, she noted the increased rate of food importation in Nigeria. Thus, the need to scale up extension agents and services in the country, knowing well that food production and consumption is constant.</p><p>Another focus of the discussion was on how technology such as mobile telephony, internet and echnology Transfer Plot (demonstration plots) etc. are changing the face of agriculture and extension services to farmers. The speaker identified farmer’s plot and demonstration plot (Small plot adoption SPAT) as evidence based for the adoption of technologies being introduced by extension agent – a clear result formed farmers’ decision to adopt technology, so extension agent must scale up these initiatives.</p><p>Given the existing opportunity in the extension and advisory services, the speaker identified some consideration for young people towards taking the lead in providing solutions to the problem of agriculture.</p><p>The café ended on a high note as participants were provided with some key organizations that support agricultural extension, advocacy to farmers and a run-down of YPARD Nigeria activities for the second half of the year. The meeting ended with members networking with one another and afterward, some of the participants embarked on a field visit to a school farm garden managed by a YPARD member. </p><p><em>For more photos on the YPARD Nigeria Cafe, visit the <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ypardglobal/albums/72157685325736145" target="_blank">YPARD Flickr page</a>.</em></p>05 Jul 2017John Agboolahttp://africa.ypard.net/2017-july-5/ypard-nigeria-caf%C3%A9-role-extension-and-advisory-services